Wow this post just went all sorts of crazy...
To the gas example:
Remember the Hess station on route 1 right after Sandy hit was pushing diesel into the regular tank so people received a mix. My neighbor and his wife called me up stuck on the highway both cars died newer Lincoln and his f150 had them towed gave them a ride home and later found they pumped diesel mix all costs were covered and paid for by the station owner
http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ss..._brunswic.html